Easily one of the most iconic automotive nameplates to ever exist, the Lincoln Continental started life as the very first personal luxury vehicle, and went on to live for 55 years across ten generations. As one might imagine, the Continental from each of those generations looked a bit different, of course, ballooning into a rather large vehicle in the 1970s, when massive land barges were all the rage. Though the fifth-generation Lincoln Continental of that era isn’t a very common sight at collector car auctions, this very nice 1978 Town Coupe is now up for grabs, giving those that like this look a chance to score a pretty sweet example.
This 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe is currently being auctioned off at Bring a Trailer with an odometer that’s rolled over, but it remains in fantastic condition, regardless. The big luxurious coupe was originally sold at Southridge Mercury of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but later made its way into the U.S. and has spent time in a number of states. Despite that, the Dark Red Metallic paint remains in great condition, though the front panel has been resprayed, and there are a couple of faded spots to go along with a bit of rust around the white landau vinyl roof.
The interior is in pretty excellent condition as well, touting cushy Dark Red velour-covered seats to go along with woodgrain trim accents, air conditioning, cruise control, and an eight-track stereo. Power comes from the naturally-aspirated Ford 460 V8, which was factory-rated to produce 210 horsepower and 357 pound-feet of torque and is mated to a three-speed automatic transmission, while power-assisted front discs handle stopping duties.
Though it isn’t often we come across Lincoln Continental models of this vintage, there was a very nice 1973 that surfaced for sale a little over four years ago with just 88k miles on the clock. That particular model was one of just 13,348 produced, and we can’t imagine that there are many ’78s left on earth, either.
Comment
We sold very few 2doors as the majority were 4 doors. Good looking car for it’s age. Southridge became Woodridge in about 1982. I was able to buy some of the Southridge heavy truck stock for about 75 cents on the dollar and have them shipped east.